"Effective June 30, 2013, Tim Hand, will no longer be with the Colorado Department of Corrections as the Director of the Division of Adult Parole, Community Corrections, and Youthful Offender System," Werholtz wrote in an e-mail to employees.

Morgan declined to comment on the reasons for Hand's firing because of DOC policy.

Hand has worked for DOC for more than 23 years. He started working for the department on Jan. 1, 1990. Clements appointed Hand as the parole director two years ago. Hand was placed on paid administrative leave last month.

Hand was replaced temporarily by Steve Hager, warden of the youth offender system, who will continue as interim parole division director.

Investigators believe white supremacist parolee Evan Ebel fatally shot Clements at his Monument home on March 19, five days after Ebel cut his ankle bracelet.

Ebel's parole officer didn't seek a warrant for Ebel's arrest until a day after Clements was killed. Investigators also believe Ebel killed pizza delivery driver Nathan Leon on March 17.

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The parole department has been under fire for the handling of Ebel's case and other violent offenders. On March 21, Ebel, 28, was killed in a shootout with Texas sheriff's deputies.

The revelation that officials were slow to respond to Ebel unearthed other problems with the department's electronic monitoring equipment and officers' response to tampering alerts. The parole system was shown as strained under high caseloads and an inadequate support system for violent parolees.

A Denver Post review found at least 35 parolees in Colorado have been convicted or accused of murder while on supervised release from prison since 2002.

Hand could not immediately be reached for comment.

In the days and weeks after Clements' murder, Hand defended his department's handling of the Ebel case.

"People can draw their conclusions on their own about how we managed that particular individual," Hand said at the time. "It's easy to Monday-morning quarterback, but I'm going to hold my head high and say this officer and these officers connected to that case did an outstanding job."

Prison officials in April said they were ramping up efforts to monitor parolees and respond to tamper alerts within two hours. Eighty parole officers from across the state were tasked with working overtime to round up parole absconders, while eight teams of two were assigned to respond to tamper alerts during weeks and after hours. An average of 136 parolees run off each month.

Hand at the time said the "consistent dedicated resources" would reduce the percentage of parole absconders.

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